The Tizard Bank, is a partially sunken

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

and one of the significant maritime features of the north-western part of the

Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed o ...

. It is claimed by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, and various parts of it are occupied by these states. It was named after

Thomas Henry Tizard Thomas Henry Tizard (1839 – 17 February 1924) was an English oceanographer, hydrographic surveyor, and navigator. He was born in Weymouth, Dorset and educated at the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich, at that time noted for its advanced mathe ...

(1839 – 17 February 1924), a British oceanographer and surveyor who surveyed the bank from aboard HMS ''Rifleman'' in the 1860s. In 1947 the

government gave the bank the name

Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred ...

Archipelago after the famous Ming-era admiral, although there is no evidence that he ever visited Tizard Bank. From before the 1870s the islands were used by fishermen from

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

with

Itu Aba Island Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, and also known by various other names, is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The island is elliptical in shape being in length and in width, with an area of . I ...

having a semi-permanent settlement of Chinese fishermen. The bank rises steeply from surrounding depths ranging from 500 to 700 meters. It is in length, and extends west from the Gaven Reefs to the NW of Dangerous Ground.NGA Chart 93044
shows the area NW of Dangerous Ground.
Note that this chart incorrectly labels the bank as the Southhampton Reefs - the Southampton Reefs are further east (10°11'N 115°17'E) - and also mis-spells Petley Reef as ''Peltey Reef''. The atoll is up to wide. The total area is , and the greatest depth of the central

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

is 80 meters. The central lagoon generally is 10 to 40 meters deep, although many coral heads have much shallower depths. There are several entrances into the lagoon. The bank contains a number of features along the rim of the reef, including shoals, reefs, islands, and cays, numerous wrecks, some lighthouses, and an ammunition dumping ground in about 2000m of water to the north of Itu Aba.The ammunition dumping ground is about to the north in water 1900m deep. Several coral heads with depths of 6-12m lie in the lagoon, and depths "3.7m less than charted can be expected. ... Mariners should navigate with extreme caution in this vicinity." Features in the area include: *

Namyit Island Namyit Island, also known as vi, Đảo Nam Yết; Binago Island ( tl, Pulo ng Binago, lit=Island of Changed); Mandarin , is the third-largest island on Tizard Bank in the northwest of the Spratly Islands in South China Sea. With an area of , i ...

(10°11'N 114°22'E) on the S side of the bank is about 12 miles S of Itu Aba. It is less than a metre high and covered with small trees and brush. * Gaven Reefs (10°12'N 114°13'E) consists of two reefs which cover at high tide and lie 7 miles W and 8.5 miles WNW of Namyit Island. *

(10°23'N 114°22'E), lies on the NW edge of the bank *

Zhongzhou Reef Zhongzhou Reef also known as Ban Than Reef and Centre Cay ( Mandarin ; vi, Bãi Bàn Than) is a small coral reef on the north edge of the Tizard Bank in the Spratly Islands, South China Sea under administration by the Republic of China (Taiwan) . ...

(Ban Than Reef / Centre Cay) lies on the north edge between Itu Aba and Sand Cay, 3 miles E of Itu Aba *

Sand Cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

lies on the north edge, 4.5 miles E of Zhongzhou *

Petley Reef Petley Reef ( tl, Bahura ng Juan Luna); Núi Thị Reef ( vi, Đá Núi Thị); Mandarin , is a reef on the northern part of the Tizard Bank of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The reef has been occupied by Vietnam since 1988. It is ...

, which dries 0.9m, is about 1 mile in extent and lies on the N side of the bank. *

Eldad Reef Eldad ( he, אֶלְדָּד) may refer to: * Eldad and Medad, two Biblical figures mentioned in the Book of Numbers * Kfar Eldad, an Israeli Communal settlement in the Gush Etzion Regional Council * Maccabi Neve Sha'anan Eldad F.C., an Israeli ...

, 7 miles ESE of Petley Reef, is the easternmost drying reef of the group. The reef is 4.5 miles long with the middle section having a depth of about 1.2m, located at the NE end of the reef.

It is neighboured by the

Loaita Bank The Loaita Bank () is one of the significant maritime features in the Spratly Islands. It is about long on its NE-SW axis, and extends from Loaita Island to the NW of Dangerous Ground.Discovery Great Reef Discovery Great Reef ( tl, Bahura ng Paredes); Lớn Reef ( vi, Đá Lớn); Mandarin , is a reef on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The reef has been occupied by Vietnam since 1988. It is also claimed by China (PRC), the Philippin ...

to the west, and the

Union Banks Union Banks (Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs) is a large drowned atoll in the center of Dangerous Ground in the Spratly Islands in South China Sea, west of the Philippine coast, containing islands and reefs whose ownership remains disputed and cont ...

to the south.

References

External links

Chart of Tizard Bank
{{South China Sea Banks of the Spratly Islands